Making Sense of…

Many topics floating through public spaces these days. In America it is about legislatures and Congress finishing up another calendar year and preparing for the newly elected folks to take their seats. That means a bunch of people are leaving their seats. The mixed messages of this passage are at times overwhelming.  Gone, for example, is Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachman. Anti-everything, or seemingly so, Michelle leaves a trail of hallelujahs that she is finally departing. The Gay community most of all, Democrats in general, and serious minded republicans, too. She was and is an anomaly of free speech we all have to endure. She had the sound bites the media couldn’t ignore (slurp slurp!), the smile that won many hearts regardless of the topic under discussion, and the eyes that could freeze Satan.

Michelle Bachman was a professional antagonist. I think she might have been a Sarah Palin trainee, but then she failed and hopefully will continue as a faded political head banger. Sarah Palin also faded only appearing on the news when the media is bored and suffering from a slow news day.

The constant war on President Obama is less personal but just as nasty as the war on Bill Clinton when he was President. The crescendos of attacks flew over the past several years but oddly Obama not only survives but is growing in popularity and respect. Not me; I have always respected him and think I have captured long-term the big picture he was always about. Pols don’t bother with the big picture, just the short term vote-getting noise. Those with short attention spans enjoy the sport, I don’t. I still think our nation would be better off if governed with a long-term view and policy set. Short term solutions rarely solve anything and add to the problem to be managed over the longer haul.

Obama is serving the nation well – reducing military engagements globally, preparing defenses for the future, addressing health care access to most, improving immigration conundrums because no one else would, silently building a strong economic base that is finally showing results and will for the long term future. In other words Obama has exercised parental patience and wisdom. It is the children among us of adult age who still don’t get the message. One day they will when they grow up.

With Congress as the model many state legislatures fell prey to the same partisan grid lock. California, Florida, Texas, Illinois – to name a few – continue on a crash course towards financial oblivion and political insanity, all because leadership is absent. A crash course because no one will stand up and cry for order and calm. No one. Illinois is a great case study for this point. Both political parties played games with the budget and state pensions for decades while the inevitable budget crash was shifted to future generations. We are those future generations and now no one has the answer to the puzzle. An enigma shrouded in mystery continues to excite the media without end.

And the media; here is an industry with many problems. They are quite evident. Too much money for too few on screen talent makes for far too many empty heads. They don’t want to do the right thing because that might lessen their ratings and thus their future employment. And the news networks simply dumb down the news to sound bites because that is all they think their consumers can handle. In time that is the only news that gets broadcast and the entire public is dumbed down.

Increasingly I turn off the media. I pick my way through an ocean of good writing and information on the internet. I expose myself to opposing views that are carefully and well prepared. I slowly come to conclusions on my own, but continue to test them on and on.

I have rediscovered National Public Radio and PBS TV news programming. Both of these sources are soundly researched and dissected before presenting to the public. Panel discussions expose the audience to varying views from great vantage points. Ideas are shared and delved into. The audience learns fresh ideas from this process. They are also respected to arrive at their own conclusions. The programs are not lectures.

How refreshing. When was the last time ABC, CBS or NBC asked meaningful questions? Not questions designed for a media advertising blitz for rating sweeps, but questions begged to be asked such as: what effects of past policy skirmishes in Congress are evident today? Is progress being made or are the problems continuing to grow? Topics such as immigration reform, campaign finance reform and education system effectiveness are the sort of things I’m getting at here. Do any of the networks even attempt to research these issues and educate the public on them? No? Why not?

When reporting a news event, do the networks define why it is newsworthy? Do they actually share the news event in chronological order? Do they clearly state what happened, when, by whom and to whom? Do they leave the conclusions to the public or do they attempt to tell the public why the event occurred without justifiable evidence at hand?

Are news reports devoid of opinion and innuendo? Hardly. That content is fine for blogs and newspaper columns and TV commentary. Some people enjoy this information. Others need it to build their own point of view. I understand why it is with us; but constantly? Worse, this is the material that increasingly is the news. Not objective. Not factual. Only sound bites that will resonate with the public and sell ratings and ad space buys.

This is where Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachman, and others of their ilk get their currency these days. They speak outrageous words, attract attention and gain coverage. All while really important material is ignored or not covered at all.

We have a new year on the doorstep. Might we try a better approach in 2015?

Please?

December 17, 2014